A Coquitlam restaurant will be a local Olympic headquarters for the next several days as Russian expatriates celebrate the Winter Games in Sochi.

Russian House owners Nikolay Tsvetkov and wife Tatyana Tsvetkova said they feel a strong sense of pride that Russia is hosting the Olympics.

"It's a big responsibility," Tsvetkov said.

The couple is originally from Kazakhstan, formerly a Soviet republic, and the two say they have divided loyalties when it comes to watching the athletes perform. In their hearts, they say, they want Russians to win gold but if no Russians have a chance at the podium, then they will root for Canadians.

"If not Russia, of course Canada," Tsvetkov said.

Hockey is one of the most important sports to watch for the couple, who immigrated to Canada 12 years ago, and they'll have the restaurant's TVs tuned to the Bolshoy Ice Dome and Shabya Arena on Russia's Black Sea Coast for all the contests.

Tsvetkova said she'll also be watching the figure skating competition and hoping for gold for 31-year-old veteran Evgeni Plushenko, who won the Russia's first gold medal Sunday night in the new event of team figure skating, with Julia Lipnitskaia.

The restaurant (www.russian-house.com) in Austin Heights held a special party Friday night to celebrate the Sochi Olympics, with dozens of guests hailing from all corners of the former Soviet republic, including Russia and the Ukraine. Food served included Georgian chicken, Siberian pelmeny, cabbage roles and perogies, among other delicacies.

Tsvetkov and Tsvetkova, who are both musicians, said the evening was to include traditional and modern singing and dancing, and a performance by a Russian children's choir was planned.

The Russian House regularly hosts special events and weddings for people of all nations from the former Soviet republic.

dstrandberg@tricitynews.com

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